Sci-Fi Storm

TrekMovie.com has some images of the props to be used in the upcoming Star Trek movie – which in some ways are faithful to the originals, but others not so much. It is difficult to judge size, but Kirk’s communicator has what appears to be the basic shape but might as well be the Motorola cell phone I had a few years ago – even the logo reminds me of it. Uhura’s earpiece looks spot on. Bones’ medical tricorder, however, looks more like a haphazard flashlight with a dentist’s mirror on top, and there is some speculation that it is perhaps just the sensor part. In addition, Playmates will be producing toy versions of the communicator, tricorder, and phaser. The props are currently on display at the Lenovo booth at CES.

The lead actor has been cast for Disney’s sequel to Tron (which is now currently just being called Tron. Garrett Hedlund (Troy, Eragon) will play a man pulled into the computer world and must follow in the footsteps of programmer Flynn, originally played by Jeff Bridges who will reprise the role as the now CEO of a software corporation. No word if the title character himself will be back, originally played by Bruce Boxleitner.

SCI FI Wire has gone through a redesign (the third web site I’ve been to today), and I just have to say I’m not impressed. It was always a good site to at least know what was going on in SF, although the stories could be terse and require more investigation. Recently they seemed to be more interested in making “lists” instead of news, and the new site design bears that out. I did eventually find the news, but the formatting of the pages is completely off.

26-year-old Matt Smith, who appeared in the British series Party Animals, as well as alongside Who companion Billie Piper in The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North as well as an episode of Secret Diary of a Call Girl will be the next (and youngest) Doctor, according to the Doctor Who Confidential special which just aired on BBC One. Such a young actor has an uphill battle in front of him…

PumpHunter writes “No spoilers yet, since at the time of writing we don’t know who it is. However the BBC has announced that the actor has been picked, and will be announced in a Doctor Who Confidential programme on BBC radio One at 1735 (5:35PM) on 3 January.
A little more on the BBC’s homepage“ I came here to post about it, but PumpHunter already submitted it…however, it looks like it will be on BBC One TV, not radio.

The Thunder Child writes “Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax in Deep Space Nine) retired from acting after marrying her husband, “The Sprint Guy”, Brian Baker, and has spent the last few years as a stay-at-home mom. In February, 2009, she and her husband will be on stage. (Not in an SF play, unfortunately.) http://thethunderchild.com/Theatre/TerryFarrell.html“